Election gives shot of power to Fairfield County

Magdalene Perez, Staff Writer

Published 12:07 am, Wednesday, November 3, 2010

STAMFORD -- While the final results of Tuesday's elections went into overtime, one thing was clear no matter who won the governor's race -- Lower Fairfield County just got a healthy shot of power both in the state and federal capitals.

Come January, Connecticut will send either Stamford native and former mayor Dannel Malloy or Greenwich businessman Tom Foley to Hartford, making either one the first to hail from lower Fairfield County since Greenwich's Lowell Weicker left office in 1995.

It's the first time both senators have hailed from Fairfield County since 1952.

Add to that Ridgefield resident and former Stamford State Senator George Jepsen in the Attorney General's office and you've got quite a bit of political power concentrated in Lower Fairfield County, the region long recognized as the state's economic engine but often dismissed by upstate Nutmeggers as a bedroom community and suburb of the New York City metropolitan area.

Some observers say this new concentration of leaders from lower Fairfield County could help dispel that myth. Norwalk state representative and House Republican Leader Larry Cafero, contacted before the election results rolled in Tuesday, said having key positions filled by locals will at the very least build greater recognition of the region's needs.

"There is still a perception among state representatives, a majority of which by number are not in Fairfield County, that Fairfield County is a different animal," Cafero said. "Regardless of who wins, you're going to see more of an awareness and respect for Fairfield County."

"Fairfield County is not going to be the kind of outlier that it has been in the past," Rose said.

The hometown perspective may stand to exert its greatest influence via the governor's office, said Joe McGee, vice president of public policy for the Business Council of Fairfield County. When Weicker was elected in 1991, many Fairfield County associates followed him to Hartford through appointments to key positions such as chief of staff, transportation and finance posts. McGee, who served under Weicker as economic development commissioner, said it will be no different under either Foley or Malloy.

"You certainly have a strong number of people from Fairfield County who are going to be elected to these offices," McGee said. "The governor is very important to our state, and the people he chooses for the cabinet positions, the chief of staff, are likely to be from the area."

Among the issues downstate officials are likely to bring to the forefront are transportation, housing, and job growth, observers said. In some areas, such as "smart growth," an urban planning method aimed at reducing urban sprawl and increasing public transportation use, lower Fairfield County cities are ahead of the curve, McGee said.

"That's a powerful learning curve that I don't think people in other parts of the state are very aware of," McGee said. "The need to address transportation improvements, that's going to be a major issue for people from this part of the state."

In addition, politicians who hail from Stamford or Greenwich are likely to understand the area's unique position in the financial sector, McGee said.

"People from down here will be aware of how we need to be competitive with New Jersey and New York," McGee said. "There will be a very strong awareness that you don't want to kill the golden goose."

Yet even if the presence of Fairfield County residents in important political positions do cast new light on concerns of importance to the region, a statewide officeholder's role is always to be balanced, former Republican gubernatorial candidate Oz Griebel said.

"I've had my differences in opinion with leaders in office, with the governor's office, but I've always felt that whoever is in those leadership roles, they're always advocating for the entire state of Connecticut," Griebel said. "The goal of any elected official, particularly the governor, they are leading not just on behalf of their town or their district, but their goal is to advocate on behalf of what's best for the entire state of Connecticut, not just their particular region."